Kubernetes Dashboard

Shardul | Apr 2, 2025 min read
Kubernetes Dashboard

Setting up the Kubernetes Dashboard is a great way to get a visual interface for managing your cluster. There are few dashboards available online which are also open source like offical kubernetes Dashboard or KubeSphere. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you going quickly.

Kubesphere

Download Helm :

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

Install KubeSphere Core

# If you are accessing charts.kubesphere.io from a restricted location, replace charts.kubesphere.io with charts.kubesphere.com.cn
helm upgrade --install -n kubesphere-system --create-namespace ks-core https://charts.kubesphere.io/main/ks-core-1.1.4.tgz --debug --wait
  1. Wait for Deployment Completion Confirm that all KubeSphere components are running by executing the following command:
    kubectl get pods -n kubesphere-system
  1. Access the KubeSphere Console Once the deployment is complete, you can access the KubeSphere console using the following URL:
    http://<your-node-ip>:30880
  1. Login to KubeSphere Console Use the following credentials to log in:
    Account: admin
    Password: P@88w0rd

    Dashboard

Kubernetes Dashboard

Dashboard also provides information on the state of Kubernetes resources in your cluster and on any errors that may have occurred.

Deploy the Dashboard

1. using Helm

Add kubernetes-dashboard repository

helm repo add kubernetes-dashboard https://kubernetes.github.io/dashboard/

Deploy a Helm Release named “kubernetes-dashboard” using the kubernetes-dashboard chart

helm upgrade --install kubernetes-dashboard kubernetes-dashboard/kubernetes-dashboard --create-namespace --namespace kubernetes-dashboard

2. Apply YAML file

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.7.0/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml

Create a Service Account (for admin access)

Create a YAML file named admin-user.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: admin-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: admin-user
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: cluster-admin
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: admin-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f admin-user.yaml

Create Access Token

Run:

kubectl -n kubernetes-dashboard create token admin-user

Save the token output—you’ll use it to log in.

Access the Dashboard

Start a proxy:

kubectl proxy

Now open the Dashboard in your browser at localhost:

http://localhost:8001/api/v1/namespaces/kubernetes-dashboard/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy/

1. Port-forward to 0.0.0.0 (Temporary + Simple)

By default, kubectl proxy only binds to 127.0.0.1. You can instead port-forward the dashboard service like this:

kubectl port-forward -n kubernetes-dashboard svc/kubernetes-dashboard 8443:443 --address 0.0.0.0

Then access it from another device using:

https://<your-ip>:8443

2. Expose via NodePort (More Permanent)

Patch the service to be a NodePort:

kubectl patch svc kubernetes-dashboard -n kubernetes-dashboard -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

Get the exposed port:

kubectl get svc -n kubernetes-dashboard

Look for NodePort under the PORT(S) column—usually something like 30000-32767.

https://<your-node-ip>:<node-port>

Choose “Token” and paste the token you got earlier.

Dashboard